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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1986)
Wednesday, April 2, 1986/The Battalion/Page 11 ids LP Louisville’s Ellison likes to get his hands ‘dirty’ night, Beau- act he >asket- tant to seven mg his made )83-84 ist sea- mes. in ford take a ialifor- it their w and s Paul ■ DALLAS (AP) — Pervis Ellison’s Ifavorke players are the rebounders Buck Williams and Moses Malone [-“the guys who do the dirty work.” Ellison, the freshman hero in Louisville’s 72-69 victory over top- anked Duke for the NCAA basket- iall title Monday night, may not lave to do as much of the dirty work next season. With 6-foot-1 1 Barry Sumpter eli gible again and Felton Spencer, a 7-1 ■ighly regarded recruit, arriving, Hie slender 6-9 Ellison probably will i e moved to forward to replace the raduating Billy Thompson. Louis- ille also loses starting guards Milt Vagner and Jeff Hall from the hampionship team. ■ Louisville’s Denny Crum, who has loached the only team to win two ghampionships in the 1980s, didn’t ffigure on using Ellison at center this leason. 1 “We didn’t promise him he’d be Itarting but we told him he’d play a iptof minutes,” Crum said. “We ac tually recruited him as a forward, ■utwhen Barry Sumpter became in eligible, we had to make the move.” I Ellison, who had been averaging |2.8 points and 8.1 rebounds, scored ;25 points on 10-of-14 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds against Duke. I The 19-year-old native of New fork, who grew up in Savannah, pa., was named the tournament’s lost Valuable Player. He became Jbnly the second f reshman to win it, following Utah’s Arnie Perrin in [j944. I The last time a freshman had to Itep in at center for Crum, the Car- feinals also won it all. That was in 1979-80 when 6-7 Rodney McCray feplaced his injured brother, I cooler, early in the season. Like McCray, Ellison, who is nick- lianied “Never Nervous Pervis,” Tilayed with the poise of a senior. Ellison scored eight of Louisville’s ast 15 points and grabbed two key Rebounds in the Cardinals’ comeback victory, which spoiled a season in which Duke ran up an NCAA record 37 wins. It also ended Duke’s 21 -game winning streak. It took some tough defensive work on Duke’s All-American guard Johnny Dawkins, who finished with 24 points but was contained late in the contest. The Blue Devils, who had lost only to Atlantic Coast Conference ri vals North Carolina and Georgia Tech this season, had managed to beat bigger front lines all season with their team defense helping out 6-8 seniors Mark Alarie and Jay Bilas. “When we talked about matchups before the game, I said we do have a height advantage at one spot,” said Crum, who has guided teams to the Final Four in four of the last seven years. “(Duke) had quickness advantages at the guards and they took advan tage of those, and we took advantage of our height advantage with Pervis. I say we got the ball to Pervis in Some crucial spots.” With Wagner and Hall unable to produce offensively, Ellison’s contri butions were vital as Louisville ran its record to 32-7 with its 17th straight win and 21st triumph over in the last 22 games. Louisville, which trailed 37-34 at halftime and twice fell behind by six points, went ahead 66-65 on Thompson’s goal with 2:47 left. Then, with 41 seconds Left, Ellison put in a rebound of Hall’s missed shot for a 68-65 lead. “Pervis got the rebound and stuck it back in — something that he has done real well for us this year,” Crum said. After Ellison picked off the re bound of the missed shot by Duke’s David Henderson, Alarie fouled El lison With 27 seconds left. The freshman made both free throws for a 70-65 lead, enabling the Cardinals to withstand two late baskets by Bilas and Danny Ferry. Duke went without a field goal for seven minutes as the Cardinals did a tight defensive job on Dawkins, who hurt them with 15 first-half points and early second-half shooting. “We switched players on him,” Crum explained, “Milt picked up his fourth foul not guarding Dawkins but helping on somebody else. We switched Jeff on him. Jeff was a little fresher. He hadn’t had to dodge or guard him all game.” Louisville also put a box-and-one defense on Dawkins. Crum said, “Both those things helped us because he’s the one they go to down the stretch. If we were going to have somebody beat us, we decided it wouldn’t be Dawkins.” It marked the third time that Duke reached the title game without winning. Blue Devils Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s team doesn’t figure to be back for a while, since he loses four starting seniors — Dawkins, Alarie, Henderson and Bilas. “(Louisville) tried to keep one fresh guy on me,” Dawkins said. “I think they used three diffrerent players plus a box-and-one. But that opens avenues to other players. We had good shots, they just didn’t fall.” • Duke made only 40 percent from the field., while Louisville hit on 58 percent. Joining Ellison and Dawkins on the All-Final Four team were Duke’s Tommy Amaker and Alarie and Thompson. Studetnls Acj o i n s t Apa td will show thio film 77Z2/V'S' Pr«9s*5? n+'ed by Dr, Lorry Yd ra k Ad miss Ton Is fr^e*® TONIGHT S: 30 PM 5 0 1 R U D D E E General Meeting will be beld afterwards to plan for the PROTEST MARCH &z ROC K — AG AI NST — APA.RTH El D TO BE HELD ON FRIDAY, APRIL A 'uke fans celebrate despite loss 11 Jliue. J 109 Walton Drive • 764-2095 Live Music Every Thursday, Friday, & Saturday Night tUu/Uxicuf, Jfudcuf. DOCTOR ROCKIT FOUR HAMS ON RYE i — l. * I can’t find my Sheep (Dancing Shepard Music) Session Defront DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Even in defeat, Duke fans bund something to celebrate. The Blue Devils came home Tuesday without the tational championship, but Duke fans masked their disappointment by thanking the team for achieving the most victories ever recorded in a season by a col lege basketball team. Duke completed a 37-3 campaign Monday night [with a 72-69 loss to Louisville in the NCAA ichampionship game. The loss ended a 21-game win ning streak. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said he found wsome consolation from the turnout of hundreds of fans, some hanging out of building windows, at the diversity quadrangle. “I’m going to be coaching here for a while,” krzyzewski told the crowd, many waving blue and /bite balloons. “I can’t promise you 37 wins in a sea- ion. My only wish is to always be able to have a group of players) as special as this is. "Our team is not a group of robots. They are real aeople. For 40 games, they’ve been the most consistent -and I think the best — team in the country.” Krzyzewski and his players thanked the fans for picking with them through an 11-17 season three years ago and providing continuous and often creative support. During the tournament, the vocal Blue Devil fans encouraged Navy to “abandon ship” and devel oped a bobbing gesture to hail Duke forward Johnny Dawkins. “Whenever we came out in Cameron Indoor Sta dium, you made me feel so good,” Krzyzewski said. “You make me feel so good now.” M Dawkins proved the fans’ courtside antics hadn’t been lost on the team when he and his teammates stood, extended their arms and began bobbing up and down toward the crowd as fans had often done when Dawkins was introduced or made a dunk. “We had a great year, but you’re No. 1 and we’re somewhere up there,” said Dawkins, who became Duke’s all-time leading scorer this season. Senior forward David Henderson, the most visibly discouraged member of the team, said it would take some time getting over the loss. “I’m a true competitor — and last evening, it hurt like hell,” Henderson said. “I wish I was one of those guys who could just continue his education forever. We made each other strong, and we’ve learned and we’ve grown. It makes coming home without really ac complishing what we wanted — it makes it a lot easier.” How to buy a You can use the American Express Card to buy concert tickets for your favorite groups or airplane tickets for your vaca tions. It’s the perfect way to pay for all the little things, and the big-ticket items, that you’ll want during college. How to get the Card before you graduate. Because we believe college is the first sign of success, we’ve made it easier for you to get the American Express Card. Graduating students can get the Card as soon as they accept a 510,000 career-oriented job If you’re not graduating yet, you can apply for a special sponsored Card. Look for student applications On campus Or call 1-800-THE-CARD, and tell them you want a student application The American Express Card. Don’t leave school without it TIZAVEL RELATED SERVICES The Advantage is yours with a Battalion Classified Call 845-2611